In American tradition a certain kind of, I would say, desperate American friendliness in which the poet tries to reach out through the page to make a connection by the side of the road with some other person.

Now, the process of writing poetry is very messy. Not systematic, never quite the same

The poets needed to learn to pay greater attention to character and to narrative.

I wish I wrote drafts and then revised them, but I don't. What I do is I seem to revise as I go.

Poetry connects us to what is deepest in ourselves. It gives us access to our own feelings, which are often shadowy, and engages us in the art of making meaning. It widens the space of our inner lives. It is a magical, mysterious, inexplicable (though not incomprehensible) event in language.

I don't think you can read poetry while you're watching television very well.

The attention deficit disorder of the culture is very distressing in America now and I think it puts a lot of things at risk, not just poetry.